Category: Giveaways / Contests

I hope you all had a terrific International Women’s Day! Thank you to everyone for entering the Giveawayand for leaving such heartfelt comments about so many wonderful women that inspire you. Here’s a rundown with some links, and quotes by all of you.

dottiedoodle says she was inspired by her husband’s Auntie. “She did an enormous amount for others and raised hundreds of thousands for Cancer Research.” How wonderful Denise, I hope she inspires more people to raise money for good causes.

Kat Eldridge. wrote about her Nana, “she taught me to be true to myself and loved me for who I am. She died at 102, after calling me and saying that she thought she had seen everything she was meant to see.” Wow, Kat E, I want to go exactly like that!

Shelley c’s grandma “was a botanist in the 1950s, helped people of all races register to vote, and was a well-known philanthropist in southern California. She always rejected the rules placed upon her.” Shelly, I am in awe!

everystitchthoughtout gives a big inspirational shout-out to her daughter who suffered burning and scars from a horrible accident and picked her self up and moved on, just two days after her month-long hospital stay!

Style Inspiration: Betsey Johnson and Ulyana Sergeenko about which MaZeLiving said, “she is a Russian designer who combines just the right amount of vintage, modern and feminine.” I would have to agree MaZe. You can click on the link to see for yourselves.

Personal Inspiration: your teachers and good friends.

Kat H was inspired by her high school chemistry teacher, “-she was fabulous, didn’t care what other people thought, super intelligent, and clearly loved life.” I sort of want to BE her, KatH!

Jane P said: When I was 7, I entered school for the very 1st time. I couldn’t speak any English and was very shy. My form teacher was extremely kind to me. Although she only taught me for a year, she changed my life forever.” Sounds like a terrific woman, Jane.

Nancy Zieman

Sewing Inspiration: Nancy Zieman, Steph of Sewing Cake, Indie Designers, Bloggers you follow and sewing groups like The Monthly Stitch and WSBN about which 1107nikki said, “I get to chat and gossip daily. I consider myself very lucky!” Me too, nikki, there are some absolutely fantastic bloggers, indie designers and sewing groups out there that inspire me every day.

“People making a living by their handmade goodness also inspire me!” said EmSewCrazy. It is definitely not an easy job, but we are all pretty happy they do it!

The Bronte Sisters, Emily, Anne and Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre (Charlotte), Wuthering Heights (Emily), and Agnes Grey (Anne) and, since in the 1800s, it was not commonly accepted for women to author, they originally wrote under male pen-names. The three sisters published a joint volume of poetry before their untimely deaths.

margueritedesigns wrote: “How on earth did so much creativity exist in one family in such an out of the way community?” I have no idea marguerite, but I’m so glad that it did!

Hochschild imparts the idea that human emotion and feeling—joy, sadness, anger, elation, jealousy, envy, despair—is, in large part, social. Each culture, she argues, provides us with prototypes of feeling. She has written several books including:

Famous Inspiration: Angelina Jolie“for her work with the UN and her bringing awareness to women and children in unsafe conditions overseas.” (wrote Kristin). Important work indeed, Kristin!

Scientific Inspiration: Marie Curie. Colonel Hazard wrote that “she was so dedicated to her work and was recognized for it at a time when women in science were still dismissed as oddities.” I love that kind of dedication!

Marie Curie in her laboratory

Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and in chemistry in 1911. She is the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences.

laurahoj’s mother “was dedicated to her family no matter what came up. She fought cancer, refusing to take pain meds at the end. She always stood by what she believed.” I’m sure her bravery and commitment rubbed off on you, Laura.

“She not only taught me so much, on her last years on earth, she taught me patience compassion and tenderness. You see, she had Alzheimer’s and it really took its toll on her when my father passed away.” wrote cathynd95, about her mother. Let’s hope that there is a cure soon, Cathy.

Lisa Eck reminds us that a mother never stops mothering. “Even now that I am older, if I need any advice or just a word of inspiration, I know that I can count on her.”

Kristin took a philosophical approach to the relationship with her mom. “We think very differently, we argue all the time, and we tend to talk only a few times a year, however she’s a very strong person. She pushed me a lot growing up and while I hated it so much, I also learned to stand on my own and achieve anything I want. If I had some strange new goal, after my mom told me it was a terrible idea, she would sit down and help me figure out how to get there.” A wonderful reflection on the fact that not every family is the Waltons or the Bradys and not every mom is June Cleaver, yet we can all still learn something from our situation and accept others for who they are, not for who we wish they were. Thanks, Kristin!

OH, I almost forgot. The Giveaway Winner!

The Winner

Kitty decided to combine Game Night with the winning entrant selection. He often has guests over for some board games and cards, where he’ll kick back, put on a casual tee and pour some Guinness. Tonight’s featured game is Mini Connect Four!

Remember Connect Four?

First, Numbers 1 to 44 (the number of entrants) were written on the teeny tiny Connect Four pieces.

Then All the Entrants were assigned a number from 1 to 44. “I Writed Da Numbers”.

When the final winning Connect Four piece is played, the number on that piece that corresponds to the Entrant’s number will be declared the Winner of the Giveaway! Get it??

Let the Connecting of Fours Begin!!

Ready! Snacks, games, Guinness. No, that is not a giant cell phone from the 70s, that is Merlin! Remember Merlin?

Guest Has Arrived! Have a Guinness and Let’s Connect the Fours!

My Turn. Hmmmmm…… (Kitty’s Garfield shirt says “Do I Look Like I Care?” Strategic dressing to help psych out his opponent)

Well, the suspense and waiting ALMOST did me in! 178 wonderful folks voted on my March Miss Bossy Patterns poll and I want to thank you all so much! (And, I set it to ‘no repeat voting’ so you know it wasn’t just my mom voting 177 times).

For the first half of the poll, the Project Runway, Cynthia Rowley and the vintage looking modern Vogue were all neck in neck with Tom and Linda Platt coming in fourth place, getting a fair number of votes, but not enough to catch up with the rest.

Then, for the second half of the poll, there was a ferocious battle between Project Runway and Cynthia Rowley, first with a tie, then folks would break the tie and one of the patterns would be ahead, then another tie! This went on for a week.

Since I can’t promise to sew both this month, tells you what I’m gonna do. Some of you voted based on fabric with the most popular fabrics being the black and white (paired with the Project Runway) and the paisley (paired with the Cynthia Rowley) so, I’m going to pull the ol’ switcheroo.

I am pairing the black and white fabric with the Cynthia Rowley and the Paisley fabric with the Project Runway and will sew one of these combinations, which will be a surprise for you (and me)! I think this will work well because the Cynthia Rowley dress is more dramatic and modern while the Project Runway dress is more classic. Whaddya think? Any objections? Proposed Alternatives?

I’m so delighted to participate in Sew Grateful Week hosted by My Happy Sewing Place! I truly feel blessed to have found a past-time that I love, that relaxes me, that challenges my brain, that allows me to be creative and that’s resulted in so many new friendships and connections both online and in the real world. And, at the end of it all, a new garment or accessory is the result. Win-win!

So, Monday’s task for Sew Grateful Week is a crowd favourite: A Giveaway! I’m so grateful for all of you and I would like to give you something.

The first two fabrics played centre stage in a Red themed outfit I sewed for Sew Red October. The solid red fabric and the striped fabric were used to colour block my By Hand London Polly Top and the striped fabric was also used to line the yoke and make pockets for my wide legged culottes. The stars and stripes fabric was used to make men’s pyjamas for my dad.

The Entry

Entries close on Saturday, March 8, 2014 (eastern standard time) which also happens to be International Women’s Day. Happy Women’s Day! In honour of this day, please leave a comment below telling us about a woman you find inspirational (real, fictional, dead or alive). And, if you enjoy my blog, don’t forget to follow it! Giveaway is open to everybody worldwide.

Kitty will, once again, officiate the draw and select a winner so you can look forward to antics such as this or thisor better still, this!